Vilified commences stud duties on Mid North Coast

While he may not have won any million-dollar races, Vilified did win four races, has an outstanding pedigree, as the half-brother to Yes Yes Yes, and is a tall, well-built horse with an excellent temperament.

"We did not see the best of him on the track; he missed most of his three and four-year-old years, and that is probably the best time for racing for a stallion," Colt Prosser said.

Colt divides his time managing his stallion and a dozen mares, building his new breeding property, Bainsbridge Farm at Crosslands, as well as training a team of around 20 horses at the nearby Wauchope racecourse.

He recently scored a winning double (Skates On and Hell Ofa Toughsun) at Armidale, while Kaihoko won at Grafton.

Vilified becomes the foundation stallion of Bainsbridge Farm, a 35-hectare picturesque property which has quietly been shaping into a showcase farm with its grassy paddocks bordering the Hastings River.

According to Colt, Vilified - also known as "Gerry" - because the Gerry Harvey co-owned Vinery Stud was among its original shareholders, had one start for leading Melbourne trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace.

"He had one start at Caulfield - he started favourite and failed, and that is when they (owners) decided to sell him, knowing that he needed a good bit of work on him if he was ever to race again," Mr Prosser said.

"I bought him from the Inglis Digital auctions for about $14,000 almost three years ago."

And so Mr Prosser's road to success with Vilified had begun.

"He had to have five operations - four joints - fetlocks and knees, and on his throat, then I put him in the paddock for 12 months," he said.

Mr Prosser said the surgeries were all successful, but it took a while to get him back into shape.

"After a race preparation, he had another spell, but after that, he started to win all his races," he said.

"When he was in work, he was a favourite around the stables, and he still is beautiful to handle; he is a real gentleman."

Mr Prosser said that it took him a few weeks, but when he learned his new job, Vilified became very efficient.

"He has served about 18 mares so far, and 14 are confirmed in-foal," he said.

Before Vilified, Mr Prosser had been weighing up options about buying a stallion.

"Buying a colt is always a risk, and he had not quite furnished into a stallion, but with his breeding behind him, I decided to take a punt on him," he said.

Vilified is by the Danehill line-sire Press Statement (by Fastnet Rock's champion Australian first crop sire son Hinchinbrook), a successful sire now based in New Zealand, and which has sired five stakes winners, including recent Sydney group two winner Roots.

Belonging to the celebrated female family of Vista Anna, Supaburn and Steam Heat, Vilified was produced from Sin Sin Sin - along with his illustrious half-brother Yes Yes Yes, a high-profile Coolmore Stud stallion which won the ATC Todman Stakes-G2 as a juvenile, then the $13 million The Everest as a three-year-old.

First crop juvenile sire, Exceedance, exploded onto the new sire scene when Dublin Down won the celebrated $200,000 VRC Maribyrnong Plate-G3 down the famous Flemington straight on Melbourne Cup day earlier this month.

Trained by Tony and son Calvin McEvoy at Ballarat, Dublin Down defeated Blue Stratum, which belongs to the first Australian juveniles by Darley shuttler, Blue Point.

Dublin Down was the top-price horse by Exceedance this year when selling for $370,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale via his breeders Edinburgh Park, Wingham, on the Mid North Coast.

Now standing at Vinery Stud, Scone, Exceedance won the 2019 Coolmore Stud Stakes-G1, while is sire Exceed And Excel won the 2004 VRC Newmarket Handicap-G1, both 1200 metre events up the renowned time-honoured Flemington straight.

The now 23-year-old champion Australian sire Exceed And Excel remains an active stallion at Godolphin's Aberdeen property, Kelvinside.